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Last week LinkedIn announced their September 2012

results
.

 

Here’s my summary of the most significant and
relevant results:

 

Area  
  June – September 2012  
(USD$ millions)  
June – September 2011  
(USD$ millions)  
Period-to-  
period change  
Total revenue
$252.0
$139.5
+81%
  – Talent solutions  
$138.4  
$71.0  
+95%  
  – Marketing solutions
$64.0
$40.1
+59%
  – Premium subscription
$49.6
$28.4
+74%
US revenue
$162.4
$94.0
+72%
Non-US revenue  
$89.7  
$45.4  
+98%  
Adjusted EBITDA  
$56  
$25  
+124%  
Global Membership as at end of the quarter
187 million people
131 million people
+43%
 

  The
Talent (formerly Hiring) Solutions products (including LinkedIn
Recruiter, Talent Direct, Recruitment ads, Career Pages, Talent Finder,
Talent Pipeline and LinkedIn jobs) continue to be the star performer in
the LinkedIn product suite, growing it’s financial impact to 55% of
total LinkedIn revenue (up from 51% in Q3 2011).

 

This is clearly the aspect of the business that
LinkedIn are pushing most aggressively with the recently introduced
Talent Pipeline product having the greatest revenue upside as a
compelling alternative Applicant Tracking System (ATS) for SME clients.

 

The Talent Solutions product is shaping as a real
category killer because it offers what no other ATS can offer;
self-service updating of candidate profiles. Every other ATS is burdened
by the huge handicap of every piece of ATS data having to be uploaded,
managed and updated by the owner of the ATS. This unmatchable difference
will be causing ATS shareholders, and their employees, to seriously
contemplate their future.

 

Other significant LinkedIn developments that were
highlighted in the Q3 earnings report include:

  • Redesigned and simplified Homepage   aiming to deliver a more
    social and relevant experience for members. Homepage traffic has
    increased more than 60% since its introduction.  
     
  • Introduced Notifications  , which alerts members to activity
    relevant to their experiences on LinkedIn. The rollouts of
    Notifications and the new Homepage have resulted in record levels of
    comments, likes, and shares. Comments specifically have increased
    more than four times since June.  
     
  • Launched Endorsements  , a new and easy way for members to
    recognise colleagues for specific skills. Since the introduction in
    late September, LinkedIn members have generated more than 200
    million endorsements, and the number of members editing their
    profiles has more than doubled versus last year.  
     
  • Revamped Company Pages   were made available in early October
    to more than 2.6 million organisations with an active company
    profile on LinkedIn.  
     
  • LinkedIn has revised its expected full year
    2012 revenue   range upward to $939 to $944 million from the prior
    range of $915 to $925 million.  
     
Scarily, the future for LinkedIn
looks to be one of cloudless blue skies, especially when you consider
that the LinkedIn war chest is overflowing; cash,
cash-equivalents and short term investments currently total USD$676
million, up from USD$387 million this time last year. That’s an
increase of just over $1 million per working day  ,
every working day of the past 12 months.

 

The LinkedIn leaders are focused
on growing the level of user engagement as a
key leg of LinkedIn’s strategy, and the focus of much of the product
development and content growth.

 

This strategy is generating plenty of comment within
the recruitment industry, both in Australia and in the USA.

 

Firebrand   founder
and CEO, Greg Savage   teed off at LinkedIn at the RCSA’s recent
International Conference reported by industry news service, ShortLis  t,
under the headline

LinkedIn and SEEK are not our friends, says Firebrand boss
.  

 

Over on US-based ERE.net, RecruitLoop   Founder
and CEO, Michael Overell   generated a storm of comments (41 and
counting) with his provocative article of two weeks ago


How LinkedIn Is Eating the Recruitment Industry
.

 

Whatever your views on LinkedIn, one thing’s obvious;
they are clearly delivering a range of products and services that both
their customers want and the investment community supports.

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